Bulkhead and the like



1. cmLns AND w. EVANS.

BULKHEAD AND THE' LIKE. APPLICATION men JAN. 12. 1921.

Patent ed June 20, 1922.

ITED v 1 JAMES CHILDS, OF WALLSEND-UPON-TYNE, AND WILLIAM EVANS OF WALKERVILLE- UPON-TYNE, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS OF ONE-HALF 'IO SWA1\'I:.HU1\TTEIR WIGHAM RICHARDSON LIMITED, OF WALLSEND- UIPON-TYNE, -E1\TG-LAND.

BULKHEAD AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J 11116 I 20, 1922.

Application filed January 12, 1921. Serial No. 436,632.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JAMns Crimes, of Brandlehow, Grange Villas, VVallsend-upon- Tyne, Northumberland, England, and WILLIAM EVANS, of W alkervilleupon-Tyne, Northumberland, England, both subjects of the King of Great Britain. and Ireland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Bulkheadsand the like, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to partitions or bulkheads and the like structures and has for its object to provide an improved method of construction and connecting structures of this kind together at right angles, or approximately so, whereby a metal to metal joint isv obtained,the construction 1s considerably simplified, and the expense of the same is reduced.

By the term oil in the follow ng description any liquid that is carried 1n bulk by ships, or is stored on land, 1s to be understood.-

Our invention has been mainly designed for oil-carrying steamers but it 1s evldently equally applicable to liquid-storing tanks on land. In the construction of the storage tanks of oil-carrying steamers as hitherto adopted, the interior of the tank 1s divlded up into a number of compartments by means of built-up partitions or bulkheads constituting angle-joints in which a number of partition plates meet approxlrnately at right angles to one another leaving a certain amount of vacant space between the ends of the said plates, that is, at the point where four adjacent compartments of the tank meet. It is very important that at the said meeting point a thoroughly llquid-t ght joint should be formed between the var1ous adjacent compartments of the tank in order to prevent any leakage of oil from one compartment to another and heretofore 1t has been necessary to plug or fill up the said vacant space by means of cement, a very laborious process which occupies a cons derable amount of time and labour, especially owing to the large amount of riveting in situ which was necessitated thereby.

Our present invention consists 1n an 1mproved construction of partition or bulkheads of the kind referred to above whereby the structure is considerably lighter than heretofore and can be largely built up' in the shops by means of power-riveting before being erected in situ on the steamer. improved construction also enables a metal to metal liquid-tight jointto be obtained avoiding at the same time a large amount of The steamer, shewing the junction of four compartments; Figs. 2,3, and illustrate modifications of the? construction shewn in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1 of th drawings two aligned bulkhead plates 1 and 2 areshewn which are to be connectedto form part of a bulkhead cross-section in the tank of anoilcarrying steamer, for example. According to our improved construction a plate 3 is riveted along its left hand edge to the inner Y edge of the plate l andj along its right hand edge to the inner edge of the plate 2, these connections being made by lap joints and secured by rivets 1, 4:, and 5, 5, in the manner shewn.

In the form shewn in Fig. 1 we rivet 0r weld two T pieces 6 and 7 with their heads directly opposite to one another and abutting against opposite sides of the plate In the drawing these connections ar shewn as being effected by rivets 8. To the web 9,

of the T-piece 6 we now connect, preferably by riveting, a bulkhead plate 10, and to the web 11 ofthe T-piece 7 we similarly connect a bulkhead plate 12. By this construction it will be seen that th bulkhead plates 1, 2, and 10, 12, are connected together at right angles by a metal to metal joint by means of the cross-section comprising the members, 3, 4. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 11.

The modification shown in Fig. 2 is adapted for the case in which two partitions 20, 21 are required to be somewhat near to one another. In this case a plate 3 is provided of sufficient width to extend beyond both of the said partitions 20 and 21, and at each cross-section a structure similar to that shown in Fig.1 is provided, except that the plate 3 is common to both cross-sections.

In the modification shewn in Fig. 3 angle pieces 13 and 14 are employed instead of the T-pieces 6 and 7, shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the principle of the improved construction being the same in'both cases.

In the modification shewn in Fig. l the cross-section consists of a solid four-arm or cruciform piece 15, the bulkhead plates 1 and 2 being respectively connected to the arms 16 and 17 in one alignment, and the bulkhead plates 10 and 12 respectively connected to the arms 18 and 19 in the other alignment. For this modification the piece .15 may be cast or rolled solid, or may be formed by welding pieces together.

Various other modifications may be made in the details of the improved construction or methods of connecting the parts without exceeding the scope of our invention, as will readily be understood.

By means of our improved construction of the partition or bulkhead the cross-secion can be made as light as desired and the riveted seams of a centre line bulkhead can all be made in double shear. Many important incidental advantages are also obtained such as the following. The cross-section is greatly simplified thus involving an increased output of work. The construction of the cross-section being light can be adopted even where there are no special facilities for lifting and handling the cross-section after completion on the ground. Labour is reduced when assembling the cross-section which can be entirely power-riveted before erection. The cross-section joint is ab solutely metal to metal thus dispensing with injection of vulcan cement and reducing the expense of drilling and caulking. All horizontal stiffening bars and connections for brackets can be riveted to the bulkhead plates by hydraulic apparatus before erection. The total caulking required is reduced by 50 per cent.

This method of construction also considerably reduces the liability of leakage from compartment to compartment and reduces the cost of testing these compartments.

What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Construction of tank divided into a number of compartments for the carriage or storage of a liquid in bulk, comprising in combination a cross-section formed of parts which are connected together metal to metal throughout to provide liquid-tight joints between adjacent compartments of the tank, and plates directly secured to the said cross section to form the partitions of the tanks.

2. In a tank having a number of compartments for the carriage or storage of a liquid in bulk, means for forming a liquid-tight joint between adjacent compartments, comprising in combination a solid four-arm section. which may be welded rolled or cast, and partition plating secured to each arm of the said cross section to form a liquid-tight joint between four adjacent tank compartments.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification.

JAMES GHILDS. WILLIAM EVANS. 

